Empirical Finance LLC Has $843,000 Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Empirical Finance LLC decreased its holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 45.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,803 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,478 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Highview Capital Management LLC DE bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at about $1,617,000. Intrust Bank NA lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 20.6% in the second quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 1,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 23,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,994,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares in the last quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,971,000. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1,418.2% during the 2nd quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 10,734 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,022,000 after purchasing an additional 10,027 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $496.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.05. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $572.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $530.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $495.47.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.75. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 48.78% and a net margin of 10.31%.The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total transaction of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,195,837.09. This represents a 18.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on ULTA shares. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $605.00 price target (up from $580.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Ulta Beauty in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $590.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.38.

Ulta Beauty Profile

Ulta Beauty, Inc operates as a specialty beauty retailer in the United States. The company offers branded and private label beauty products, including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools through its Ulta Beauty stores, shop-in-shops, Ulta.com website, and its mobile applications.